5th Grade Honors Choir

Late this winter, I received an email from Natalie's music teacher, inviting her to join the 5th grade all-county honors choir. There was an opening, and she thought Natalie had the dedication and musicality to be a part of the group. We didn't even know this was something she could do, so we happily accepted the honor.

The all county choir chorus was in March, so after the kids had spent the afternoon at Monticello HS practicing, we 3 went over to watch Natalie and the other 5th graders perform!

 

The kids were really fantastic. I didn't know all of the songs, as you can likely see from the program above, but I enjoyed all of them!

And I think it's now a requirement that every choir do this song...but the kids are so cute singing it, I can't even be bothered by the fact that it's a bit trite!

Henry gets a new axe

Henry has had an acoustic guitar for a while now (it was a Christmas present a couple of years ago), but he hadn't expressed much interest in it until recently. After moving, though, he started talking more about taking guitar lessons. I saw an ad that Music & Arts was having a sale where if you bought a month of guitar lessons, you got a guitar for free, so we headed to their open house for a trial group class. Henry was hooked from the start!

Music & Arts did their job - we walked out with the free guitar, but also needed to purchase an amp and a guitar case (shown strapped to his back below with said guitar inside)... but he was so excited about the whole thing that we just couldn't say no!

He immediately went upstairs and started playing the one chord/song he had learned. I've heard this multiple times already, and he gets better all the time! We are now about 2.5 months into lessons, and he's learned the main chords to quite a few songs.

I absolutely love the music side of his room - it shows his personality so well and makes him so happy!

September Concert #2: First Aid Kit

In my previous post, I mentioned the Friday night concert I went to in September: Jethro Tull. That one was relatively close by, at Wolf Trap. The following Monday night, Natalie and I headed a bit farther away to see First Aid Kit in Washington DC. She had to miss her dance classes to go, but she loves the band so much and was so excited at the idea of seeing this concert that we agreed it was worth it.

I knew traffic into DC could be pretty bad, so we arrived fairly early in order to find a decent parking space near The Anthem and grab some dinner. Kathy went to the show with us, but due to some very unexpected car trouble she was unable to meet us for dinner (but luckily still made it to the show!). So instead Natalie and I explored the area, including these awesome giant swings before grabbing some seafood for dinner.

Then, it was finally time to head over to the show!

We had seats way up high in the second balcony. I chose those because we were quite near the stage (even if up high), and I thought they would make for a pretty good view of everything. Natalie liked being up so high, but I think she would have liked to be down one level. Those seats would have been great, but they were definitely more expensive! Without zooming in, this was our view of the stage (photo taken of the opening act - she was pretty good).

Then, finally, it was time for the sisters! This is the 4th time I've seen them, and they continue to put on a great show! I really like their latest album, Ruins, so I had no problem seeing them so soon again after seeing them earlier this year. Plus, it's so much fun to share an event like this with Natalie.

I'm really loving the live version of "Hem of her dress" that they do at their shows. It's off the latest album, and the acoustic + trombone is just fantastic. Hearing it live actually made me like the song on the album more!

September Concert #1: Jethro Tull

The second weekend in September was a big one, even though the two events weren't actually on the weekend. I started off with a concert on Friday night at Wolf Trap: Ian Anderson presents 50 Years of Jethro Tull. I had seen the tickets for sale, and asked my parents if they wanted to go as my dad has always been a huge Jethro Tull fan. I've been a fan since I was younger - who doesn't love a good rock flute? This former floutist certainly does!

There was a big storm called for that evening; that's why I always spring for seats! Plus, I'm too dang old to sit on the lawn. As we walked around some before the show, we saw the clouds amassing...

and during the show they broke open and it POURED. Luckily we stayed dry under the ceiling!

Going into the show, we weren't totally sure what to expect. Would it be just Ian Anderson? Would it be Jethro Tull songs? A mix? Turns out that it was a Jethro Tull retrospective, as advertised. The first 6-7 songs or so were ones that I had not heard (but again, I'm not a super fan!), but my parents knew them.

The set was really cool; excellent integration of old video footage from their previous concerts and performances while playing live on stage.

And damn, at over 70, the man can still dance around a stage and play the flute. For two hours!

Harmonica too.

Thick as a brick - a definite audience favorite!

As was this one...

And of course you cannot have a 50 years of Jethro Tull concert without Aqualung!

I give Ian Anderson a ton of credit - he was aware of what he could/couldn't do in terms of singing, and used the audio in the pre-recorded video sections judiciously, not trying to hit notes that he can't any more.

There have been 38 different members of Jethro Tull over the years...they showed interview clips with previous members, and other bands/artists who were inspired by them. It was a really fantastic couple of hours - very glad we got to go!

Rock Band Camp #2

In mid-August Henry returned to Bach2Rock for week 2 of summer Rock Band Camp. This time, when we arrived for the performance, we saw this sign that he DEFINITELY made in the window. I really do want to know where he heard about the Illuminati (shh, they'll hear us!).

Guitar is definitely serious business! He did great, and after this camp was fully inspired to start guitar lessons, which he has loved.

He played drum on one song, and piano on a couple of others. Love how much this kid is into playing music.

First up: the song that started Henry's guitar career - Feel It Still! He learned the full guitar part of this song, and for the longest time that's all he knew, so we listened to that song OVER and OVER again for weeks. It's his favorite!

The kids learned a classic, on which Henry also played guitar, yet I never heard this one again after camp. I guess it didn't strike a chord the way the previous one did!


And, finally, piano on another old classic.


Wednesday was actually Henry's last piano lesson at Bach2Rock; we had his final guitar lesson there on Monday. As we get closer and closer to our move date (less than two weeks now!), we start to hit these "last" events more and more, so there are definitely a lot of feelings being processed.

Rock Band Camp #1

When we were planning summer camps last spring, Henry asked to attend rock band camp again this summer. He loved it last year, and because of schedule were were able to send him twice this summer! The first week he went was in mid-July. On Friday, they performed in the green space outside of the school for parents and anyone else who wanted to listen in.

There were quite a few campers there for half day camp; they formed a band all together named "First Dimension".

 Check out my little rocker!

 

There was some time needed to set up all of the equipment, and then First Dimension was ready to play "Should I stay or should I go" by The Clash.

They had a couple more songs together, but that one was definitely my favorite. Then, we were fortunate to see Henry perform a few more songs. Henry and one other girl were there all day, whereas the rest of the kids were only there half the day. Therefore, she and Henry got to perform a few additional songs, with the help of their teacher Mr. Cedric. I was a BIG fan of their first one :)


She and Henry played a couple more together, but they aren't songs that I really know, so I'm going to skip ahead to Henry's two solos. The first was a duet with Mr. Cedric on guitar: a rock song that Henry wrote about his favorite songs.


And finally, Henry sang one of those favorites: Ophelia by the Lumineers. So proud of him for getting up in front of a crowd outside and doing this!

Henry's piano performance

In 2016 and 2017 we held our "Punch, Pie, and Piano" recital with our group from dance, when a couple of girls were unable to attend their scheduled recitals. This year, the event was a bit more hastily put together (for a few reasons), but we were still able to hold it! I was very excited that Henry really blossomed since the previous year, playing much longer and involved pieces than he had previously. Without further ado: Henry's two recital pieces!

Hist first piece is so jazzy. It gets slightly faster throughout. Also, he has this one memorized which is why you can see the same sheet music in both videos.
Side note -I love Natalie's friend Bella in the corner doing her shoulder-shimmy to it.

His second piece is a bit longer; he didn't have this one memorized but worked at it really hard!

The other kids also did a great job, although this time I didn't record any of them. Natalie's friend Lily played "Piano Man" by Billy Joel, which led to a great sing along for all of us adults! 

Side note - Henry has now, a few months later, totally gotten into Piano Man, and I'm trying to get him to listen to other Billy Joel songs now too. 

First Aid Kit in DC

In February, I had the pleasure of seeing First Aid Kit in concert for the third time! The first was when they opened for Brandi Carlile at Wolf Trap a few (three?) years ago. Second time was when they headlined a small-ish venue tour for their last album, and back in February was the third time! This performance was for their new album, Ruins, and was also the first time I saw a show at the Lincoln in DC.

Great venue - I would definitely see another show there. The seats were not assigned, which we were slightly worried about (I went with Kathy, Beth, and Rachel), but we got 4 seats in a great spot, stage left.

I had been thoroughly enjoying listening to their most recent (4th) album on Spotify, so I was very excited to hear the songs live!

They ended up playing the entirety of their new album, Ruins, and one of my favorites of the concert ended up being one that I wasn't a big fan of on the album: "Hem of her dress". But seeing it acapella, with the trombone, really made me enjoy the song a lot more!

Here's a short clip:

I didn't really take many videos, because I try to enjoy the show (and not through my phone), but Natalie is also a big fan of First Aid Kit, so I did take some videos of her favorite songs, including this one (Silver Lining) - their big hit off of their last album.

They are returning to North America later this year on a second part of the same tour, and we are going to see them again, this time at the Anthem in DC. Kathy wanted to go with me, and since it's an all ages show, I got a ticket for Natalie too - she is SO excited! I had not yet been to the Anthem, as it's such a new venue, but actually saw Brandi there this past weekend (post on that soon!). 

Musical Theater Camp: Aladdin

It's the final post on the kids' summer activities! For the first two weeks in August, Henry continued to attend Ida Lee Summer Fun camp while Natalie went to musical theater camp with a few of her friends. We (the parents) discussed, and with the kids' input chose to sign them up for Aladdin. In the course of two weeks they would cast, rehearse, and put on a full 30 min version of Aladdin of the show!

Because I was off work those two weeks (which was not planned when we first signed up for the camp), I was able to help with the carpool. In fact, I drove 5 girls to camp in Purcellville almost every morning. That was quite the experience - listening to them was very entertaining! But I was proud of them - they worked hard and helped to put on a fantastic show.

The girls actually put on 3 shows: one afternoon performance, and two evenings. I went to the first evening performance and offered to take photos to then be used as desired by the organization, and also to be distributed to all of the parents. Here are some of my favorite shots from during the performance - well, of the scenes that Natalie was in, at least!

Can you spot Natalie? She's a little hard to find in the above photo. In the next one, she's on the bottom right, wearing orange (next to the girl in blue).

Ok, Natalie's not in this one, but I love this shot. It's at the end of "Friend Like Me", and my friend Danielle's daughter Mia was cast as the genie (in the front in blue).

Natalie was then in "Prince Ali", complete with ribbon!

And here are a couple of shots from the big finale. Natalie is all the way in the back, in the middle.

This last one is definitely one of my favorite shots!

The girls all did so well; I know Natalie loved being on stage. She was even complimented by some friends who came to see the show on how much energy and stage presence she had! We may have a musical theater girl on our hands in a couple of years.

Here she is with her friend Carson after their show.

And after her last performance (the one we watched), I took some photos of her and her friends with my phone.  Carson, Lila, and Natalie were all in the show together. :)

But they had a bunch of friends from dance who came to watch them perform, which made them all so happy!

I like that in our family photos, Henry is wearing his tie-dye tshirt that he made in camp :)

Henry's Rock Band Camp

During the same week Natalie was at jazz camp, Henry had his specialty camp of the summer: Rock Band camp! It was held throughout the summer at his music school, Bach2Rock, and was definitely something he was looking forward to.

The kids spent all week forming their band, learning songs on different instruments, and ultimately inviting us to their end of week performance. All 3 of us were able to go watch Henry and his band play!

For their first song, Henry was on drums for a rousing, rambling, can't-quite-find-the-beat performance of "Can't stop the feeling" by Justin Timberlake.

We actually took full videos of each song, but I trimmed them down to just post about 30 seconds of each here. While these kids worked super hard, that's probably enough to listen to :) 

 Second was the girls' choice of "Love me like you do" by Ellie Goulding. They gave it a bit of a rock vibe, instead of a pop sound. I think this one was a bit more on beat; Henry was on piano this time, which we know is his favorite and best instrument. I clipped out a part where he had a very tiny solo.

Their third and final song was "Believer" by American Authors. Henry loves this song, and he really loved playing bass guitar for it! As you can see in the video below, bass guitar is very serious business.

2nd annual Punch, Pie, and Piano

Last year, one of Natalie's friends was unable to make her piano recital, so her mom talked to all of us whose kids play piano, and we decided to host our own recital! It was such a hit last year that we did another one this year. So, without further delay, the 2nd annual Punch, Pie, and Piano!

Ingredients needed: pies. Lots of pies. And punch.

 Kids who are ready to play the piano:

And parents to listen and videotape:


And of course, a Frozen sing-along:


We even got a little bit dressed up, since we had a second event to go to afterwards. Next post!